When I was younger my parents, and teachers taught me that I am able to be whom ever I please. As I grow up I learned that I do not have the power to define my self. In my readings of The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the essay On Being A Cripple by Nancy Mairs, and the poem “This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin helped me come to the conclusion that; we have little power to define ourselves. People are defined by the culture, society, and others around us. People react to there society, people want to be able to define themselves but everything around us has more power then we have in our self. In my personal life I am greatly affected by the world around me. My political views are defined by my parents views. When I was younger I would hear my parents discuss there views on the affairs of the nation. I grew up believing that what they said is correct. Now since I am almost of voting age when I look at the paper or watch the news I see myself thinking the same think my parents do. An example of this is my views on gay marriage. I grew up with a gay uncle, and my family is very open and accepting of his relationship, but if I grew up in a church where they did not approve of homosexual marriage I would probably not support gay marriage. My friends who grew up in other households help me support this thesis since they all believe what they were taught when they were younger. In the poem “This Be The Verse” by Philip Larkin he is discussing how children are raised to grow up to be the same as their parent, and their parents before them. “They fuck you up your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do.” (Larkin 47) Parents want to raised their children to be polite and proper, yet the only way they know how to raise their children is the way they were raised. If they were abuse they will abuse, if their parents let them do anything, then they will let their children do anything.